Peace Officer Memorial Day Events to be held in East Texas

Today is Peace Officer Memorial Day and there will be special services in Angelina and Nacogdoches counties marking this day and honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

In Lufkin, Crime Stoppers will host BLUENITED, a multi-agency memorial ceremony, beginning at 5:30 P.M. outside the Angelina County Courthouse.

The ceremony, which will feature the Texas Department of Public Safety Piping and Drum Corp and is expected to last roughly one hour, will celebrate the men and women of law enforcement, while honoring the memory of the county’s four fallen officers – Sheriff William R. McMullen, Capt. Don H. Willmon, Deputy Byford H. Hunter and Officer John E. Logan Jr.

McMullen was shot while headed to a breakup a gunfight at the Hudeburgh Hotel in the Homer area in 1866; Willmon was stabbed while questioning a suspect on a Lufkin street in 1979; Hunter was shot in the back in 1982 while serving a warrant in Angelina County; and Logan was shot during a traffic stop in Huntington in March 2004.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

In Nacogdoches, the counties' Combined Area Law Enforcement will be hosting the Fallen Peace Officer’s Memorial Service at the Nacogdoches County Civic Center beginning at 10:00 am.

Fallen peace officers that have made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting our citizens of Nacogdoches County will be honored. The public is cordially invited to this event as these officers and their families are recognized. Refreshments will be served from 9:30 to 10:00. Nacogdoches County Attorney John Fleming will be the guest speaker. Nacogdoches County has had 10 officers killed in the line of duty since 1871.